Leatherman OHT One Hand Tool

Looking for the best multi tool to carry while fishing in your kayak? Leatherman has been showing off their latest innovation in multi-tool design and I’m particularly interested in this One Hand Tool (OHT) model specifically for it’s potential kayak fishing applications. Not only have I always been a fan of Leatherman multi tools, I’m especially fond of models that offer one-hand opening action on the blades. But this tool takes the whole one-hand thing to the next level, by offering one-handed operation of, well, every tool on it (16 in total).

Of these one-handed tools, one stands out in particular – the pliers. In much the same fashion as the Gerber tool has offered for almost 2 decades (and no longer owns a patent on), the pliers on the Leatherman OHT are deployed by depressing the lock and flicking the wrist.

Why do I think this feature has positive implications for kayak fishing? Because it’s not terribly easy to access the pliers on a Leatherman single-handed otherwise and for anyone who has ever had to do it (like myself, many times) you probably know how inconvenient it is. I’m sold on this tool for that feature alone. That everything else can also be opened with one hand is just icing on the cake. That it has been designed specifically for military and emergency response personnel fills me with confidence that the OHT will rank up there with their premium models in terms of quality (and as such, of a higher standard than what I have come to expect from Gerber). Check out the Leatherman OHT Review.

The Leatherman OHT will be available in Australia sometime around October this year and you can expect to find a full review here soon after they land. I can already tell you, however, that to be of any use for open ocean kayaking, I’m going to have to maintain it (using Lanox) and rinse after use religiously. If only they’d make these things out of H1 alloy my quest for the perfect multitool might come to a happy ending!